Shea Brennan has been named January Player of the Month at the Irish FA JD Academy in collaboration with UEFA.
The 15-year-old attacker was revealed as the winner by Olivier Doglia, UEFA’s Senior Player Development Expert during a special video call with the students at the academy.
Shea, who is at Crusaders, was selected ahead of his peers for showing an ‘all-round improvement in attitude and motivation’ during the current Covid-19 lockdown.
Player of the Month awards are a way of recognising and rewarding an individual player's progression, attitude and application in their football development.
“Winning the award has certainly boosted my confidence in every way possible. I am also very happy because it’s hard to do well and train every day in these difficult times,” Shea said.
“Each day I am challenging myself to develop and become a better player especially in my weaker areas. We all work on the Academy programme on a daily basis, so I challenge myself to push on past that and to do an extra bit more to improve as a player.”
Shea has shown an all-round improvement in his attitude and motivation and Academy staff are delighted to see his strong desire to knuckle down and really focus on improving in all aspects of his development
Asked what advice he’d offer young footballers, Shea added: “I would say, get out and do what you can, while you can. Keep yourself sharp, fit and focused to be ready for when we are allowed back because it all benefits you in the end.
Carmel Fyfe, the Irish FA’s Elite Performance Operations Manager, said “Shea has shown a tremendous work ethic throughout the lockdown and has really stepped up to the challenge. He has shown an all-round improvement in his attitude and motivation and Academy staff are delighted to see his strong desire to knuckle down and really focus on improving in all aspects of his development. Well done, Shea!”
Shea joins Bobby Harvey (December), Rian Brown (November), Caolán Donnelly (October) and Luca Doherty (September) as a recipient of the award.
